personal updates of Meryll Larkin http://www.alwanza.com Apologies for the long silence.  I did not think life could get busier than it was at my last update, but I was wrong.  After my last blog entry, I doubled my job hunting efforts.  I spent the last two weeks of August and the first week of September averaging 4 phone screenings and 3 in-person interviews per week.  No kidding.  Just before Tom and I left for our last adventure of summer, I accepted a position with a contracting company, to work for a telecom in Factoria (Bellevue), Washington. 

In September, Tom and I took a week-plus long vacation on the Coot in Puget Sound on the San Juan Islands, culminating in a long weekend of displaying our boat at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.  The vacation was wonderful.  My only complaint was a lack of leg-stretching opportunities as we spent most of our time on the water.  Sleeping on the Coot is fantastic:  being rocked by the waves and hearing the lapping of the water.  We saw many water fowl; we ate very well, both picnicking on the boat and at fine restaurants on shore; and we spent lots of time navigating the Sound -- great fun!  At the tail end of our vacation, the contracting company (remember them?) sent me 32 documents to print, complete, sign, and fax back to them.  I found the only (overpriced) copy and print shop in Port Townsend and spent several hours there during the final days of our vacation.  Upon arriving home, I had to complete the application by taking a "pee test". 

I had a short week from the "pee test" to my start date, September 20th.  Between my full time job, some dental work I'm completing, ongoing volunteer work for NARGS Northwest Chapter, I haven't had much time for anything else...  but somehow I fit more in. 

In October, Tom's trout appeared for another visit.  We went to Craven Farm for our yearly pumpkining and also picked up some of the world's best honey.  We had our "spooky sup" dinner party. 

In November, Tom and I joined a gym.  We managed to work out a couple of times before Thanksgiving.  Then the Moms came for a visit and we went on the Argosy Thanksgiving Dinner Cruise. 

This coming weekend, our niece, Anne is going to graduate college (I think she might be 19 years old), in Moscow Idaho.  She started collecting college credit while she was still in High School.   (more) http://www.alwanza.com/blog/b20111207.html Today it looks like the 3 weeks of summer we've had in the Pacific Northwest could be coming to an end.  Of course it is difficult to know for certain what is going on with the weather these days, but my bet is on climate change, caused by humans, and not good for us nor the rest of the inhabitants of this planet.  I think so because an occasional swing outside recorded norms and patterns would be expected somewhere on earth from time to time, but we seem to be experiencing multiple anomalies in diverse places within very short periods and the familiar patterns are less recognizable because they are so broken up with the unfamiliar.  The reason I say "caused by humans" is because we have finally reached a level of scientific understanding that we could identify natural phenomena that would create such anomalous patterns and I haven't heard of any natural phenomena that would explain the extent of our deviation.  However, the deviation does follow patterns known to be related to our pollution of the planet and destruction of natural habitat.  (more) http://www.alwanza.com/blog/b20110822.html I am out of work and looking for new work again.  I'm getting over a stress-related respiratory infection.  All considered I'm doing well.  It was an intense experience.  I learned a lot.  I went the extra mile for them every time.  I worked long hours, including usually arriving early.  I spent lots of my own money.  I had an old cell phone that wouldn't accept long texts, so I purchased a top-of-the-line Android phone with tethering so that I could do remote 24/7 support from anywhere.  During the 3 weeks that my lead was in Spain, I did round the clock support every day.  I updated my computers at home so that I could duplicate much of the infrastructure at work and have a sandbox in which to test stuff out.  I'm finishing it up now because any tech business of about the same size, that uses Linux, will be using the same or similar software.  I'll be ready for my next job.  (more) http://www.alwanza.com/blog/b20110531.html Just filed my taxes (finally), configured a new laptop for my friend, Mickey, I'm half way through laundry, and I'm installing my new dev machine.  It has been a getting-things-done weekend, which isn't as fun as a play weekend, but very necessary.  With most of my obligations handled, I'm hoping I have whatever extra hours are necessary to prepare myself for the next challenge at work. 

The big news in the world is the earthquake and the post-earthquake tsunami in Japan.  Many dead, many homeless, great upheaval; and the forecasters say we could be next.   (more) http://www.alwanza.com/blog/b20110327.html